


Different kinds of "addictions"

by Sapphicadhder



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: ADHD, Albus Potter has adhd, Albus knows british sign language, Astoria!lives au, Hurt/Comfort, James is actually a good brother, M/M, Mentions of Ableism, a few curse words are used, adhd!Albus, set in the summer before 4th year, slight angst with a happy ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-25
Updated: 2020-08-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:27:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26100379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sapphicadhder/pseuds/Sapphicadhder
Summary: After a fight with James, Albus rushes to Malfoy Manor to seek comfort from his favourite blonde. Once he goes back home Albus might just realise that there's more to his brother than meets the eye.(This one-shot involves two of my hcs: a)Albus having adhd b)Albus knowing sign language; it's the first in a series of one-shots centered around adhd!Al)
Relationships: Scorpius Malfoy/Albus Severus Potter
Comments: 10
Kudos: 75
Collections: Scorbus Fest 2020





	Different kinds of "addictions"

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is only my 2nd time writing a fic (the 1st one was years ago) so it's definitely not perfect but thank you for giving it a shot! I welcome constructive criticism so don't be shy. And thanks so much to my beta Rinrin-obliviate who helped me SO much!
> 
> About the fic:  
> It's set in the summer before Albus' 4th year and it's an Astoria!lives au. The rest can be seen as either canon divergent or compliant, up to the reader.  
> Albus here has adhd which is mentioned a few times (check out my tumblr sideblog @ adhdalhc for more!) and when he knows british sign language which he uses when frustrated.
> 
> In the end notes I explain some things, if you can pls check them out after the fic!
> 
> Hope you enjoy and thanks for reading💜!

Albus Potter might not have been a sugar addict like his best friend, and possible crush, Scorpius Malfoy but he had been craving sweets all day. It wouldn't have been a problem if his mom let him eat sweets. Unfortunately, Ginny Potter had a strict "sweets only on special occasions" rule. Albus usually favoured savoury snacks so he wasn't sure why he was craving sweets so much. Part of him thought that maybe it had to do with the fact that the letter Scorpius had sent him earlier that morning smelled like chocolate, which definitely wasn't a surprise given the other boy's obsession with it. Albus knew where his mom usually hid sweets: in his dad's office. The problem with that? His dad was currently at home in his office working on a new case. He had left the door open while he worked but Albus couldn't just walk in and take the sweets. Harry wasn't as strict as Ginny when it came to eating healthy, but he only left the kids off the hook when his wife wasn't home. because He didn't want to fight with her about something that, in his opinion, wasn't that big of a deal.

Albus tried to take his mind off of the cravings he was feeling, a task not so easy given that he was also really bored and that usually made him want to snack. He tried to think of what to do but he just couldn't come up with anything besides homework. Unfortunately he had trouble doing most subjects at home because his adhd made it really hard for him to concentrate in a house of five people (most of whom pretty loud), it's why he usually did most subjects with his best friend. Scorpius Malfoy was the definition of a nerd so he excelled at almost every subject and he had always been good at explaining things to Albus in a clear but entertaining way. Plus Malfoy Manor was probably the most quiet place Albus knew since it was so big that even when Draco and Astoria were home to Albus it felt like the only people there were Scorpius and him.

Albus was sitting on his bed, staring at a wall and getting frustrated by the whole thing when he heard James and Lily practicing Quidditch in the garden. He got up, walked to the window and watched his siblings play for a bit until it hit him: their dad had given James his old invisibility cloak. If Albus managed to find it he could use it to sneak into his dad's office and take the sweets. At the time it seemed like a great idea because it looked fun enough to shake him out of that boredom limbo and it would finally end his sweets cravings. Unfortunately while the theory was solid, the execution...not so much. His brother happened to have a few trophies from some summer Quidditch tournaments for teens that he had attended, and Albus had always been a bit of a clumsy kid so when he was looking through James' belongings he accidentally broke one of those trophies. The moment he realised what he had done he freaked out. He knew his brother was super attached to those trophies. He ran to his room and tried to piece it together again with glue but to no avail. Then he tried with a lot of tape. After a few hours he somehow managed to piece it back together but he could still tell that it was broken. Albus went back to James' room, put the trophy back where it was and prayed that his brother didn't notice it. After having somewhat "fixed" the problem he immediately locked himself in his room and wrote a letter to Scorpius about what had happened, hoping to calm down. Once he finished writing the letter he quickly sent it through his owl and went to hide again in his room. 

A few hours passed. The family had eaten lunch and James didn't look any different. Albus figured that he hadn't noticed the trophy and tricked himself into thinking that he'd never notice, that they'd go back to Hogwarts without James knowing about the whole ordeal and that maybe he would only find out the next summer when it couldn't be traced back to Albus. His wishes weren't met though. An hour or so after lunch James had barged into his younger brother's room, furious at having seen one of his precious trophies broken and knowing that it had been Albus since James and Lily had spent the majority of the day together and his parents were busy doing work. He knew there was no one to blame but Albus. As soon as James entered the room, Albus got up from his bed and simply stood awkwardly.

"I can't believe you. You broke one of my trophies! You _know_ how hard I worked to win those. I spent so long practicing and for what? For the idiot of my brother to break the proof of my hard work? Why the fuck were you even in my room? I told you a million times to never enter my room if I'm not there for fuck's sake," James said in a tone that unfortunately Albus had heard many times.

Albus secretly hoped that his parents could hear this argument and calm down James or tell him off for his language but James had shut the door behind him and they were in the garden with Lily so he doubted they could hear him with both the door and window closed.

Adhd's rejection sensitive dysphoria never mixed well with confrontation so Albus tried to avoid eye contact by turning his head to the back a bit before answering "Look James I didn't mean to ok? It was a mistake I just...I mean. Ok so the thing is -". Before he could continue his sentence James interrupted him and slowly said " _why_ were you in my room in the first place?". Albus bit his lower lip for a few seconds, then he quickly spat out "Iwantedtousethecloak"

…"what?"James asked with a still annoyed but also confused look. Allbus had turned his head to make eye contact for just a few seconds and immediately regretted it. He took a deep breath to stabilize himself, looked down at his feet and repeated that same sentence but slower and lower this time "I wanted to...use the cloak…"

"You've gotta be shitting me, you couldn't ask me where it was? No right, I forgot you couldn't because it was easier not to and it's not like it matters to you because you _never_ think about the consequences of your actions. Everyone _always_ has to fix your mistakes. Mom, dad, me, hell even Scorpius!"

That hit Albus like a punch to the guts. He had never really had that much self confidence, then Hogwarts made it even worst and now it was hard for him to not think of himself as a constant failure and disappointment to pretty much everyone in his life...To hear James say those words, to say that Albus wanted to throw up and cry would be an understatement.

"That's not true! I...I tried to fix it...but it wasn't easy exactly I mean. It's just, I see I kind of thought that you know, maybe wouldn't notice."

Since Albus was oh so lucky he started doing that "completely messing up sentences" thing that happened when he was stressed and frustrated which made him even more frustrated because he always found it really embarrassing. Whenever it happened Albus tried to keep in mind what the muggle therapist he had seen told him: "adhd or other neurodevelopmental disorders often affect communication. You probably noticed a frequent struggle to find the right words and put your thoughts together quickly and linearly in conversation and errors in grammar as you compose sentences. This starts acting out even more when you're in a stressful situation or when you're feeling really tired. Don't worry, it's very common and you don't need to feel ashamed about it" to Albus that last part seemed easier said than done.

"Oh yeah thanks _so much_ for the tape, that really makes it better! I can't understand why I was even angry in the first place," James said in a sarcasm fueled tone. "Did you seriously think I wouldn't notice? I'm not an idiot, and I polish those trophies multiple times a week when I'm home. You know why?". Albus waited in silence, clearly not knowing the answer. The silence was short lived because after a few seconds James broke it by answering himself "To remind myself that no matter how tired I am or how many injuries I have to endure they're worth it because if I put the effort I can and will succeed. Do you remember the match where I won that particular trophy?". James waited again. Albus was there along with almost all of his family members, a few of whom were also participating in James' same team or in other teams based on age. If Albus had to be honest he hadn't paid that much attention to the games because he felt...jealous. Though it sucked admitting it, there was no way around it. The reason for his jealousy? He used to be good (ish) at Quidditch until he started Hogwarts. It was like all the anxiety and expectations that had been bottled up inside of him finally poured down like a waterfall and he couldn't help but drown. He just couldn't handle it so he developed this...kind of "fear" about playing Quidditch or even just mounting a broom in front of other people, even though he had no trouble doing that by himself or with only Scorpius watching. 

Albus carefully thought of his answer. He didn't want to anger James. "I...thi-yeah, yeah I remember it."

"Great, so you remember what happened to me like not even 30 mins after the match?"

"everyone was celebrating with cake and stuff and...you threw up"

"Yeah. I threw up. Because I had been keeping up bad habits for a few weeks to prepare for the game. I ate very little and practiced all the time, which came back to haunt me right after the game when I was eating because I tried to eat more than I had in weeks and I guess my stomach couldn't take it. Obviously I learned the lesson and I won't do it again. I felt like shit for the following weeks but I thought: 'hey at least there's a silver lining, we won! So my unhealthy efforts weren't completely useless' and...you just broke the fucking trophy because you couldn't be bothered to _ask me_ where I had put the cloak."

Albus felt even more ashamed. Truth is, the thought of asking James where the cloak was hadn't even entered his head. Now that he thought about it though it probably wouldn't have changed much. James rarely agreed to help Albus without anything in exchange. However Albus still felt bad about not even giving it a shot.

"I'm, well I… I hadn't thought that about that I mean I just...also would you really have given it to me? We both know no."

The more Albus talked the more he could feel his brain overheating from the frustration and shame of the whole situation mixed with the struggle of forming understandable sentences. It's one of the things that motivated him the most to learn sign language, he was already interested in it in case he ever met someone deaf/mute so it could make it easier to communicate with them but he always postponed learning it until he realised that he could also use it to communicate when he struggled talking. His parents, siblings and Scorpius had been supportive and learned it with him, they still struggled to use it themselves so they just answered with their voice but they usually understood when Albus used it.

A small voice inside of his head was telling him to use it right now, he was really tempted however he didn't end up listening to it because James was already angry and Albus was afraid that maybe doing that would irritate him even more. Before Albus could change his mind, his brother spoke.

"Maybe, maybe not. But you still should've asked."

"I said I'm sorry! Ok? Can we just stop talking about this now? I'm sorry and I feel bad but it's over, can't you leave it?"

Albus just wanted that whole conversation to be over. He could feel tears starting to prick his eyes but he did not want James to see him cry about something like that so he tried to hold them back.

"Whatever Al. Just don't fucking go in my room again when I'm not there. Are we clear?"

"Underst - unders - I under...yes, clear."

Albus had reached his frustration peak and when that happened on top of stuttering he usually also started having trouble saying words, it didn't matter if they were easy to say words like "understood". After a while his brain just didn't cooperate anymore and it was hard for him to finish some words. He looked back at his brother to find him clearly uncomfortable, which didn’t really surprise him because he had noticed how James tended to make weird or uncomfortable facial expressions when Albus stuttered or couldn't say a word. He wasn't sure how to take it, he felt a bit defensive because while he might feel embarrassed about it he still found it unfair for neurotypicals to judge him (or others) for that. However, it definitely wasn't the right moment to argue back about that.

"Good," James said quickly, he then left the room shutting the door behind him. Albus was surprised to find that he hadn't slammed the door but instead closed it normally, something that James and him had in common was a difficulty dealing with anger.

For a few minutes Albus just stood there in the middle of his room in silence, frozen. The tears then started pouring down, not being able to hold them in any longer now that he was alone and didn't have to put up a facade. He sat on his bed again and squeezed his pillow while gritting his teeth. He hated himself for not thinking things through, hated himself for being clumsy, hated himself for having trouble talking sometimes, hated himself for always getting so emotional and he hated himself for having thoughts like that which awakened his internalised ableism that he was trying so hard to squash.

He kept crying until the tears made his eyes sting. Once he looked up and saw Scorpius' letter on his desk, he impulsively decided to go to Malfoy Manor. He changed clothes, washed his face in the bathroom, went back to his room to scribble a note for his parents that read "went to Malfoy Manor, sorry for not warning. Homework emergency ~ Al." He left the note in the kitchen before using the floo to get to his best friend's house. Albus felt so bad that even just saying those few words for the floo to activate was hard for him, which was exactly why he needed Scorpius. His best friend always understood him and never forced him to talk.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Albus arrived at Malfoy Manor, he immediately headed for the luxurious green decorated library, guessing that he would probably find Scorpius there. To his relief, he was right.t. As soon as he walked in he spotted the blonde sitting on the floor cross-legged surrounded by muggle books. Albus could recognise a few of those books that he had given them to him for his birthdays or holidays since Scorpius had always been really fascinated by muggle things (which Albus had always found really freaking adorable). At first Scorpius was so occupied by whatever he was doing that he didn't notice his best friend. Albus knocked on the corner of the door to catch the other's attention.

"Uh?" Murmured Scorpius before looking up at the door. "Oh! Al!". Scorpius sent him a blinding smile that immediately calmed him down. "Wait, were we supposed to meet today? Did I forget or mix up the days? Sorry! I've been really caught up by these muggle books" continued the blonde while stroking his chin in thought as if trying to remember what day they had agreed upon meeting up again.

Albus gestured in sign language. "No sorry, I just came because something happened."

Scorpius frowned. "What happened? Wait, actually do you wanna talk about it? Because you don't have to if you don't want to. I can read you something if you want? Or we can make some origami! My mum taught me how to make them a few days ago. I'm not so great at them but hopefully some practice can change that and I can teach you what I know so far? Or...mmm let's see...what else could we do?...take a walk? But it's pretty hot outside and I know you hate sweating which, you know, fair but I think I actually don't mind it that much because I love feeling the sun on my skin and..." Scorpius looked back at Albus who was slightly laughing. He then put his arm behind Albus’s neck. "...I'm rambling again, aren't I?"

Yep, Albus was definitely feeling better. He was still too tired to talk but even just five minutes of being with Scorpius had cheered him up. He realised that he had been staring without answering so he shook his head a bit to clear his thoughts and then gestured "don't feel like talking about it. Reading is fine." While using sign language wasn't as exhausting as talking, it was still communicating. He still felt too tired at the moment, so he tried keeping his sentences short and simple.

Scorpius pointed at the books surrounding him. "Great! Which one of these books do you wanna read? Or we can get some from the shelves but I remember you saying, and I quote, that most of those books 'seem so boring and long that they should be illegal' and well I highly disagree but you know, to each their own."

Despite Scorpius’s failed attempts in imitating Albus' voice, he was head over heels at how his best friend waved a finger in the air and made an awful impression of him. He was sick on Scorpius. If Scorpius was addicted to sugar then Albus was addicted to Scorpius. He found everything his best friend did cute. Scorpius could fall flat on his face for tripping on a banana peel and Albus would still find it adorable. Should he be worried about that? Probably. He figured that being so dependent on someone wasn't healthy, but then again who cares? Scorpius always made him incredibly happy so for what it’s worth, maybe it’s okay to feel dependent on him (if "dependent" was even the right word, Albus wasn't even sure).

Albus walked over to Scorpius, who in the meantime had moved the books a bit to create some space for Albus, and sat down. He looked at the books again, a few of them were hidden under other books so Albus had to move them. To his delight he found himself staring at a few of the Percy Jackson books. Albus had been hyperfixating on them ever since Teddy had given him the first one about a year or so ago. As soon as he had read it he started pestering his parents to buy him the others and for a while it was basically the only topic he ever talked about. Soon enough, Scorpius ended up reading them too and quite enjoyed them actually. Albus had read all of them already, even the other series in the "Riordanverse" and the mini/extra books. Scorpius, however, was still stuck at the Heroes Of Olympus series. Albus glanced at the blonde’s direction and asked him in sign language "where are you at?"

Scorpius laughed and answered in a fake quiz-like tone. "Why am I not surprised that you immediately went for the Percy ones?" Then he added "Anyway yeah I'm still not finished with the Heroes of Olympus series but I'm only missing the last book now! And then...the next series and the other two non sequel series...and the other solo books...thank Merlin I love reading because this man sure writes a lot. I still like history books more, as you know, but it is really interesting to read about mythology don't you think? I guess it's a bit like history if you think about it! It's also really nice how the old gods are portrayed in a modern setting! That's probably my favourite thing. You know, in the first book it says that they teach mythology in muggle schools! I don't understand how Percy wasn't paying attention, I'd be hanging off from every word! It's a shame they don't teach us that at Hogwarts. Can you imagine how fun that class would be? I'd definitely take it. Wait...what were you saying?...OH! Right, which one to read. Um, are you good with re reading the last one since it's the only one I still haven't read from this particular series?"

Albus smiled and nodded. For a moment he couldn't remember why he had been angry in the first place. Scorpius usually had that effect on him and Albus definitely wouldn't complain.

Scorpius thought it was better to go up to his room so they'd be more comfortable. With Albus' help, he gathered the books laying on the floor and they put them on a fancy long glass table in front of the green sofa. Scorpius then proceeded to tuck the "Blood of Olympus" under his left arm and take Albus' hand with his own. Albus instantly felt his cheeks heat up from blushing.

They walked in silence to Scorpius' room with the blonde leading (as if Albus didn't know the way to Scorpius' room like the back of his hand). Once they got there Scorpius told Albus to wait on his bed while he closed the velvet green curtains by an inch, enough to not be blinded by the hot summer afternoon sun but also not enough to be left in the dark. Albus loved Scorpius' weird fancy room with his detailed wooden desk, his really cool huge mirror, some green old looking chairs, an even more old looking bed that had somewhat of a royal vibe to it and the beautiful green and white tapestry. He could definitely tell that the room and the rest of the manor belonged to a Slytherin; something that Albus found rather nice and relaxing. It might've been hard at first but after adjusting to Hogwarts, Albus had started taking pride in his house and often wore green clothes or decorated his room with green objects. There was only one thing in his friend's room that he despised: the velvet curtains. Albus wouldn't lie, he did find them pretty. It’s just that the texture was awful and always made him uncomfortable. Albus thought it was weird at first until he learned that it was a sensory thing connected to adhd. He still didn't understand how or why but it felt nice knowing that it was something normal for people like him.

Albus took off his shoes to sit on Scorpius' bed and watched the other to do the same. Scorpius sat in front of Albus with his legs tucked underneath him and started reading, immediately making funny voices along the way. "Al! I _can't_ just read a book and not give each character their own unique voice! Do you know how boring it would be if I just read everything in the same voice? Where's the fun in that? And we both know you'd probably fall asleep in 20 minutes or so if I did that." Scorpius was probably right. With Albus' short attention span, there was a high chance of him dozing off in the middle of Scorpius reading a book. His best friend making funny voices definitely helped Albus, but at some point he had to fake a complaint the first time-- it was how their relationship worked. Albus would find something Scorpius did immensely adorable and to not combust from Feelings(™) and to keep his "facade" up he'd pretend to complain about it. Scorpius would see through his act and usually call him out or explain why he did what he did before laughing it off.So needless to say this was one of those things; Albus thought it was the cutest and funniest thing on earth but, as mentioned before, he thought that about pretty much everything Scorpius did so no surprises there.

They spent quite some time like that, occasionally changing positions so as to not get cramps. The only sounds they could hear, besides Scorpius' voice, were the birds singing on the tree outside of Scorpius' window which they ended up having to open just a tad to let some fresh air in. They were in their own little world...that is, until Draco opened the door to his son's room without so much as knocking, something Scorpius often told him off for but his father didn't have the greatest memory. Astoria constantly said that Draco would lose his head if it weren't attached to his head. Meanwhile, Albus loved the little snarky comments Scorpius’s mum made when they were all hanging out at Malfoy Manor.

"Scorpius do you wa- _oh_. If it isn't my favourite Potter. We weren't expecting you today but of course you're welcome to stay as long as you like, as far as your parents are ok with it. They do know you're here I presume?"

Albus nodded...they probably knew right? He had left a note in the kitchen and someone must've walked in there even just to get a glass of water or some snacks.

"Great. I simply came here to ask if you wanted some biscuits and tea?"

Scorpius answered for the both of them and said "yeah, that'd be great! Thanks dad! Oh and remember Albus li-"

"Likes it with plenty of sugar. Don't worry I remember." After finishing the sentence for Scorpius, Draco chuckled and closed the door again to bring the boys the tea and biscuits. Albus was really fond of Scorpius' parents, they treated him with the utmost kindness ever since day one. It was also nice to talk with other people that had pride in Slytherin, living with Gryffindors and constantly being surrounded by them was not the easiest. One of Albus' favourite things was making fun of Gryffindors with Draco. Scorpius usually rolled his eyes and "shooed" him away, however Albus actually enjoyed it when Draco stayed with them for a bit. Sometimes he would even invite Albus to play wizard's chess with him while Scorpius watched. Albus even won a few times! After their matches Draco usually told Scorpius "you could learn something from your friend." After that he would turn to Albus and tell him how it was nice to have an actual opponent to play against every once in a while. Plus, his dad seemed to find it slightly annoying when he gushed over Draco and Albus and Ginny thought it was rather funny.

After Draco left the two boys went back to reading, or in Albus' case listening while Scorpius read. It didn't take Draco long to bring them a fancy platinum tray full of different types of sweet home-made biscuits, two white and green flowery decorated teacups filled with delicious lavender tea (Astoria's favourite), some white napkins and two teaspoons. Albus was feeling incredibly better to his surprise so he found enough mental strength to slowly start talking again. The first thing he spoke was a small thanks to Draco. The man smiled. "No problem, hope you enjoy. By the way, before I forget, I meant to ask you if you wanted to have dinner with us? By us I mean just Scorpius and I, Astoria happens to be out of town right now for some business inquiries but Scorpius and I would love to have your company."

Albus really wanted to say yes. For one it would save him a lot of awkwardness from James. But he thought deeply about it, he figured it would be good for Scorpius and his father to have some good one on one quality time so he reluctantly declined the offer.

"Thanks but I told my mom I'd be back for dinner."

"Maybe next time?"

Albus smiled and nodded. He was pretty happy with himself. He had managed a full sentence without stuttering (not that there was anything wrong with it) and it didn't strain him too much either.

Draco advised them to bring the tray back to the kitchen when they finished. Scorpius agreed before turning towards Albus with a slight pout on his lips that reminded him of one of those grumpy/sad cats memes Teddy had shown him in his muggle box thingy device (Mobe? Moby? He couldn't really be bothered with remembering its name).

"Awww, it would've been nice to have you over for dinner. Next time for sure though! Anyway, let's eat! And most of all drink the tea before it gets cold, that'd be an awful waste of lavender tea."

"Your mom makes it with her own lavender right? I think she mentioned it once."

Scorpius seemed a tad surprised but mostly happy at seeing Albus talk again.

"Yeah, she does! We grow some in the greenhouse, I can show it to you sometime if you want?"

"Yeah that'd be nice."

Scorpius proceeded to put a biscuit in Albus' hand, take one in his own and then tapped their biscuits together while saying "cheers".

Albus laughed and called him a dork.

They ate their respective biscuits, then some more but couldn't manage to eat every single one so they left a few, drank the tea and then Scorpius put the not fully empty tray on his desk with a note to Albus to remind him to bring it to the kitchen later. He walked back to the bed, sat down, grabbed the book which had been sitting upside down before opening the pages they had left on.n. Albus wasn't able to concentrate for long though because as soon as Scorpius started reading he noticed two things. The first thing: the sun had shifted making a sun ray appear right on top of Scorpius, it felt like the universe had crowned his best friend (and crush) as an official angel...Albus thought it was about time and he couldn't help but stare in awe as the light brought out his mesmerizing silver eyes even more. In his small vocabulary the words angel and Scorpius happened to be synonyms. The second thing? He had some crumbs on the lower side of his left cheek. The moment he saw them Albus' impulsivity told him to wipe them off himself...so, without thinking, he did. Once he realised what he had done he froze in place with his right hand on Scorpius' cheek...unmoving, just like the two of them now were. Scorpius was looking at Albus, Albus was staring back. Both of them with their cheeks flushed, though it was harder to tell with Albus because of his brown skin tone but Scorpius knew that the other was blushing too because, after a few seconds of stillness and stunned silence, he imitated him and slowly put his own hand on Albus' cheek. Instantly feeling its warmness. They just sat there for a few more seconds, that to the green eyed boy felt like hours, before he found the courage to break the silence that had befallen them.

"I, umm, you had some...uhh crumbs in your, on your cheek so I umm wanted to brush them off."

"Right! Right! Thanks! I mean, of course that's...what I was going for too. You also had crumbs from the, you know, biscuits so I just ahhh wanted to return the favour! Because...we are great...mates. Right?"

"Right… so uhm, thanks and uh you're welcome?"

"Yep! Yep! Sooo...reading! I was reading to us, I shall go back to doing that" ended Scorpius with an awkward chuckle that made Albus feel weird. Scorpius was usually the “dorky awkward”, type of guy. However, what happened a while ago was…“uncomfortable awkward.” Albus knew that if he thought about it for too long he would end up spiraling into negative thoughts towards himself again and he didn't want to let that happen, he had just calmed himself down so he shook his head as if to try to send the bad thoughts flying and he tried to focus on what Scorpius was reading while he also fidgeted with the hem of his shirt.

The minutes went by, the awkwardness slowly dissipating from the air around them. By the time Albus looked up at Scorpius' coo-coo clock (one of the blonde's favourite muggle objects), he noticed that it was getting late.

"Hey umm I should probably be going home, it's uh getting late."

Scorpius turned to look at the clock himself and said "oh right! Yeah so I'll be seeing you again on...was it Thursday?"

"Yeah yeah, Thursday. So umm, see you then I guess…"

Albus took his shoes and put them on again. He got up, walked to the door, opened it and then...just stood there for a few seconds before turning around and facing Scorpius who was now standing. They were pretty affectionate with each other, and that included hugging almost every time...but Albus was a pro at overthinking everything so he wasn't really sure what to do after _that_ awkward interaction.. Luckily, Scorpius came to the rescue. It didn't matter if he was saving Albus from falling face first in the mud for being clumsy, or saving him from failing a class by helping him study or in this case saving him from making a decision that Albus wasn't sure of. Scorpius always came to his rescue. The decision Scorpius made? To quickly hug Albus. The green eyed boy was stunned but recovered fast from his surprise and hugged him back. As the blonde was about to lean away from the hug he said "I'm glad you feel better."

Albus walked to the Malfoys' floo with a smile on his face.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Albus felt the tension crawl back once he stepped foot into the living room. His mom had been waiting for him apparently because she was sitting on the sofa with her arms crossed and an unimpressed expression.

"Mind explaining to me _why_ you left without warning your father and I?"

"I lef-"

"And _don't_ say you left a note because that does _not_ count."

"I...told you. I wrote it in the note. I had a homework emergency."

"...right, so where _is_ said homework? Because I went to your room and all your school supplies are there, not to mention that you came back empty handed. No papers, books, quills...nothing."

Yep. Ginevra Potter Weasley was good.

"That's because I...left it at the Manor. Scorpius wanted to revise it one last time and to be honest we could still add a few things so I just figured I'd leave it there, that's all." He then shrugged and said "oh and it was a work to do in pairs so one paper for the both of us is fine which is why I decided to not bring any of my supplies. I know you've never seen Scorpius' room but trust me, he has enough supplies for the both of us. Actually, he has enough supplies for the entire student group of Hogwarts."

His mom kept staring at him with that same unimpressed look.

"You're a pretty good liar, I'll give you that. Seriously, you should try auditioning for those muggle theater shows they always give us the pamphlets of. Which is what I would say if I were your friend, alas I am your mother. Your mother who will definitely ground you unless you tell her what's going on."

Albus accepted his defeat. He slowly and painfully walked over to the sofa, he sat next to his mom and told her the truth. He told her about what happened to James' trophy, that he tried to fix it, then he told her about the fight they had and finished by explaining why he went to the manor unannounced and without warning her. Ginny comforted Albus but still decided to punish him, nothing too harsh though; just helping grandma Molly with chores next Sunday when the whole Weasly clan would gather at the Burrow. After talking to his mom he decided to head upstairs to his room while he waited for dinner. The door to his room was slightly open, Albus found it odd because he always made sure to close it (he had some real privacy issues but as the only Slytherin in a family of Gryffindors, who could blame him?). He pushed the door fully open and saw his brother sitting on his bed, looking down at his own arms. As Albus opened the door James looked up but stayed seated on his younger brother's bed. Silence showered the room for a brief moment...until

"Hey"

Albus felt uneasy. Usually he would've yelled at James for being in his room without his consent but...after what Albus did he figured that it would be very hypocritical of him to do so.

"Um, hi."

"Sorry about getting so angry before. Mom fixed the trophy with a spell. It's as good as new."

Albus mentally called himself an idiot for not realising that he could've just asked his mom to fix it for him instead of freaking out and trying with muggle glue and tape. Before he could say anything, James spoke again.

"Look, I'm still angry about you going to my room and searching through my stuff without asking me before and that I had to find out on my own instead of you admitting it...but I _might_ have overreacted just a tad...I said some awful things, I shouldn't have. And you're not an idiot! I was just frustrated...that's all."

James ran a hand through his messy hair, the one feature they slightly did in common, and the motion reminded Albus of their dad who often did it. He disagreed with people who argued that James looked nothing like Harry. Sure, Albus definitely looked the most like his dad out of all his children (honestly, he might as well be a clone of a younger and shorter version of Harry) but if you put his brother and dad side to side you would probably be able to spot a few common features. His pale skin? Definitely his mom. Freckles? Same. Eyes? That too. The shape of his jaw, his hair and his height tho? His dad's. The colour of his hair was a ginger-ish brown, way darker than the signature Weasley hair but still lighter than Harry and Albus' pitch black hair, however it kept the shape and texture of the hair from the Potter side of the family.

"So are you gonna say something or…?" James asked bluntly. Then he turned around, looked around the room and added "also, _what_ are you looking at?"

Albus hadn't realised he had been caught up in his own head, James' voice snapping him out of it.

"Sorry um, nothing. I...I'm still sorry about...well, you know. I promise I won't do it again. And well, thank you for apologising too."

Albus awkwardly smiled at his brother before playing with his fingers. James smiled back, his smile not at all awkward though but then again that was James' whole thing; he almost never looked awkward or out of place unlike Albus who rarely looked like he knew what he was doing. Thinking that made Albus realize something. There was an occasion, an occurrence that usually made his brother act less composed. Impulsivity took him over and before he could give it any thought he followed in James' footsteps of being shamelessly blunt."Why do you get uncomfortable when I stutter or can't say words?" Albus' cheeks immediately flushed from embarrassment, but he knew that there was nothing he could do.

James looked like someone had just slapped him in the face to wake him up. Albus wasn't sure whether to take it as a good or bad sign. Having trouble adjusting to certain social norms made it hard for him to read people.

"What are you talking about?"

Lying it is. So much for the Gryffindor bravery his brother liked to brag about. Now that he had spoken those words he wouldn't back down though, he wasn't sure if he'd be able to ask again.

"You _know_ what I'm talking about. You did it before too. I got frustrated and I started stuttering and then I couldn't pronounce the word un-... and then I couldn't pronounce a word and you got weird."

Albus felt like he could say that word again but a small part of his brain told him not to, just in case. He didn't need to have another scene like that on the same day, one was plenty tiring as it was.

Albus waited. James didn't answer so he took in a deep breath and continued talking.

"Is it some ableist bullshit? Is that what it is?"

They had just made peace, unfortunately Albus could feel himself heating up again.

"What?! No! No, that's not it. Sorry it seemed like that. I just feel uncomfortable when you get like that because of me. I guess it must suck when you're arguing with someone and you can't even say a comeback because you can't talk. So I feel shitty when it's my fault that happens but I was also still angry at you. A lot of mixed feelings that confused me and made me feel...weird."

"Oh"...not what he expected. "That didn't cross my mind...sorry. I tend to jump to conclusions…"

"Oh _yeah_ , I've noticed."

They both chuckled, the tension finally starting to leave the room like a passing wind.

"Well, we could keep staring at each other forever _or_ we could play one of those muggle board games your snaky friend seems to like so much?"

Albus rolled his eyes at the comment. Hearing that in his first year would've crushed his heart, especially because it was a year filled with hatred directed at so many different things and people. Now it was simply a harmless (and maybe even slightly funny) remark.

"Sure, if you promise not to cheat."

James went back to his very dramatic self and made a show out of his answer, exaggerating his tone and putting an arm to his chest in the fakest way possible.

"Hey! I _never_ cheat okay? I simply happen to misunderstand a few of the rules sometimes...and once you've made a move really what's the point of going back and canceling it?"

Albus laughed and said with a tone that poured doubt. "Right…"

The two brothers ended up playing for about an hour, both of them ignoring the rules of the game after barely 20 minutes. The door had been left semi-open and their laughter was so loud it could be heard from their dad's office where his parents happened to be talking and smiling. As Albus walked to the bathroom at the end of the hall he happened to overhear a light conversation going on with his mum and dad.

"Seems like those two are back to normal," his dad muttered.

"Yeah, they are."

Albus could hear the smile in his mum's voice.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading💜! (And congrats, I know 6/7k words in a newbie's writing style aren't easy to read ahshsjddk).  
> A few things I wanted to say: 1)if you don't know a lot about adhd and this confused you feel free to ask me questions here or on tumblr (main:sapphicfangirll, sideblog: adhdalhc) or you can also check out my post with explanations about adhd (it's on my sideblog). 2)I'm afraid I made James too harsh but I'm really possessive when it comes to my belongings so that was even watered down for me lol. 3)there are 2 foreshadowing things here for my next one-shots👀👀👀(see if you can guess😂) 4)I'm aware that my writing style is very repetitive😅, any tips to improve are welcome! Don't be shy.


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